YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -Sophomore forward Hayden Humes posted his fifth double-digit scoring effort of the season, but host Youngstown State raced out to a 17-3 lead and never looked back, cruising to a 71-50 win over the UIC men's basketball team in a Horizon League game at the Beeghly Center Saturday night.

With the setback, UIC drops to 5-11 (1-5 Horizon) on the season. Youngstown State improves to 9-6 and 4-1.

Humes scored a team-high 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, while senior center Darrin Williams chipped in nine points and corralled a game-high eight rebounds. Youngstown State was led by Ashen Ward, who poured in 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting - he was joined in double figures by Kendrick Perry (14 points), Damian Eargle (11) and Blake Allen (10).

Youngstown State shot 55.2 percent in the first half, and finished the game shooting 49.1 percent from the field. UIC was held to just a 31.6 percent shooting output, and was out-rebounded, 36-33.

YSU forced UIC into its first timeout with 15:07 remaining, after starting out the game on a 15-3 run - four Penguins had field goals in the spurt. UIC trimmed the deficit to just five points three times in the ensuing 9:42, but Youngstown State finished the first half on a 9-0 run over the final 5:27, taking a 36-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Penguins carried the momentum over to the second half, going on a commanding 14-1 run to claim a 50-24 advantage with 15:11 remaining. After falling behind by a score of 60-30, the Flames answered with a 9-0 run, and pulled within 60-39 with 6:43 left. On the floor during the spurt was Humes, along with freshmen Greg Travis, Marc Brown, Rob Robinson and Will Simonton. The Flames pulled within 17 points (64-47) after back-to-back threes by Robinson, but could draw no closer.

UIC will return home to kick-off a three-game homestand next Saturday (Jan. 14), when the Flames entertain cross-town rival Loyola at the UIC Pavilion beginning at 3 p.m. CST.